The Protector of Heartland
by Vector-Rei Shingetsu
Summary: AU where Shun is Batman. Deal with it.-AllithiaSigma 2k16 Co-Written by AlithiaSigma and me. So what if Shun was Batman? (Or Batman-like, we changed all of the names.) AU.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So AlithiaSigma and I thought of an idea where Shun was Batman, and it was a silly idea (It still is.) it started off with one liners and stuff, and it ended up becoming our Saturday and Sunday. Oh, and we don't own Yugioh Arc V or Batman.**

"That Falcon of yours is as harmless as a fly."

"It can't make a dent in our monsters!"

"We might as well call that Falcon a glorified Chicken."

"We'll see about that won't we? Go! Raidraptor Rise Falcon!"

...

"! It's Strength just rose tremendously!"

"We don't stand a chance against it now!"

"...is it too late to beg for mercy?

The Falcon rushed at the three criminals' monsters,engulfed in flames and destroying them and knocking out the criminals with the overwhelming shockwaves the Falcon produced.

"You shouldn't underestimate the power the Raidraptors hold, you punks." Shun Kurosaki, the vigilante who befriended and holds the power of the Raidraptors, said as he vanished into the night.

...

Shun stepped into the Kurosaki residence, a spacious, but not particularly elaborate house that still managed to be significantly larger than the living quarters of most of Heartland. He took off his cape and cowl and dumped them unceremoniously on the living room couch, where his childhood friend and housemate, Yuto, sat, looking at something intently on his touchscreen phone.

"Yuto, wash my cape for me," said the bird-themed vigilante. When Yuto's parents disappeared, the Kurosaki family took him in. They didn't expect that the Kurosaki parents would end up carded in an alleyway. Though embarrassingly crime-ridden, Heartland was rather forgiving to the orphans, letting them keep their home and livelihood, but did very little to actually help them. Shun, Yuto, and Ruri got along just fine without help, but many children weren't as fortunate.

Yuto didn't even look up from his phone. "No. I'm not your butler, go do your own laundry." He tapped something on his phone, continuing to watch the really engaging… whatever he was watching. "Really, it's all tattered, I don't get why you care about washing it if you don't even bother to patch it up."

"If you're going to be putting your own clothes in the laundry machine, it's not that difficult to just put mine in as well." He turned to leave, but turned his head back to his friend. "And the tears in my cloak commemorate the countless battles I've faced in it for the good of Heartland and its people. That doesn't mean it should smell like Heartland's streets."

Yuto almost audibly rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say. ...Fine, I'll wash them, but you're doing the dishes again. ...Where's Ruri?" Ruri had only joined the Raptors patrol recently, and kept active in both school and charity events. She was a natural leader, and Shun was proud of his sister.

"Thank you. Ruri had some lingering business with a few of her friends at school. It's really impressive how she manages both her academics and our work." Shun himself had left the education system as soon as he graduated high school and participated in monster dueling matches at Heartland's stadium, and had gained quite a following. Yuto was a skilled mechanic and technician, and had designed many of the Raptors' gadgets, not that they needed much more than their monsters. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

Yuto waved him off, eyes still glued to his phone. "Night, Shun."

Shun went to his room and collapsed into bed. Vigilantism was _tiring._ Though one of those muggers he defeated did use Fusion summons, none of them were responsible for carding his parents, nor did they seem to know anything about the recent epidemic of cardings. Tomorrow, he would have to do the dishes and participate in the qualification rounds of the upcoming tournament. As well as fighting Fusion scum, but that was obvious.

There was a ring of the doorbell. Shun groaned and rolled over, having just gotten into bed and not wanting to get out of it. Hopefully, Yuto would open the door. A minute passed, the door remained unanswered, and he decided to intervene. By asking Yuto to open it.

"Ugh..Yuto can you get the door? And drive them off to, I don't want to deal with visitors today."

Yuto grumbled, but Shun heard his footsteps walk to the door. "Kurosaki residence, how may— Commisioner Akaba?"

It was indeed Reiji Akaba, Heartland's young but brilliant police commissioner who had just been elected to the position a mere three months prior. Shun though that this was just going to be _brilliant,_ and wondered what the commissioner was here for.

"Please, Yuto, call me Reiji. Are Shun and Ruri home? I have something to discuss with the three of you, I have an offer you three might be interested in." The composed commissioner said, calmly adjusting his glasses, awaiting to be welcomed in.

 **A/N: Eyy, this be Lith, AKA AlithiaSigma on this place. I… Actually haven't watched many episodes of Arc V, so I hope this turns out well. Do tell us if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or criticisms on any spelling, grammar, pacing, or characterization! Especially characterization. As much as Vec knows about the characters, a second opinion would be nice! Shun and Reiji are my favourite characters in the show, and you really are unlikely to change my mind on that.**

 **Oops, sorry, long author's note. See you next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

Detective Dennis Macfield blew on his cup of coffee, listening to his fellow officers' conversation.

"I heard the commissioner doesn't trust us. He planning on cutting down the force or something, I bet." One of the officers was flipping idly through some week-old case notes.

"Sure hope not. City's got more than enough crime for us to deal with." The second officer penned in a couple letters of the daily crossword.

"You guys are just paranoid, there's no way he would do such a sudden move, you guys should know our esteemed Commissioner better than that~" The orange haired detective chimed in optimistically, sipping his coffee.

"Easy for you to say, newbie," said the second officer between letters, "You don't really know how the commissioner can get sometimes…"

"Yeah… That glare of his… When he's upset, he's really upset. And it's more often than you'd think… It's like he thinks half of us can't do anything right."

"Then prove him wrong, duh. If you want to save your job why don't you just do something big, something flashy, something to impress even our Commissioner Akaba!"

The officer looked up from his reports to take a sip of coffee. "Easier said than done, Detective Macfield. We can't all be like Galaxy-Eyes. ...Is he still working on that smuggling case?"

"G-Galaxy Eyes? I don't believe I've met him yet…" The cheery detective showed interest, his eyes glowing brightly.

"Oh-ho-ho, then you're in for a treat," said the other officer, as he put away the newspaper, finally giving up on the crossword, "Kaito Tenjo's one of our best detectives. He's almost always working. He's currently heading the smuggling case. He's been working here for… What, a year now?"

"One and a half. Almost as long as I have."

"I'll have to meet him one day. He sounds like a much better influence than you guys are." Dennis chuckled as he walked off to some paperwork that he has been assigned to.

"Good luck with that." The officer went back to his papers, waving Dennis off.

In another part of the police department, a recently-hired young policeman and his superior officer were having a discussion about their assignment.

"C'mon Rin, why aren't we chasing all the bad guys like the police in the movies do? I-I mean, they fail all the time and get killed, but we're better than them right?"

The mint-haired lady officer leaned on the back of her subordinate's chair and said, "Police shows give an awfully inaccurate view of our work. It's not like _CSI_ , with tons of action and stakeouts. It's mostly background work, research, patrols, helping people… that sort of stuff. It'd be stupid if it were like those shows."

The younger blue and yellow haired officer sighed and pouted, similar to that of a small child who didn't get what they wanted. He fiddles with the paperwork he was assigned to do and said, "Stupid for you, fun for me. Besides, it's borrrrring, just being confined to this tiny office with paperwork, you think so to right? I've known you far too long to not be right on that one, so let's go stretch and have some fuunnnnnn….Please Rin? Pretty please with two mint-coated cherries on top?"

"Well, we'll probably find some criminals on patrol tonight. Then you can chase and arrest them all you want. ...there's way more than enough." Rin shook her head at her friend's attitude. "For now, we have paperwork to do."

"FIne. But don't expect me to enjoy it…..I still wonder why I have this job." Yugo whined, as he filled in his paperwork with pen.

"You were the one who kept talking about how you wanted to join me at work when I told you about it." Rin went back to her seat and continued to work.

"Maybe I didn't want to be apart from the only person I care about." Yugo muttered, still away at his paperwork.

Rin kept silent, choosing to not respond, acting as if she hadn't heard.

…

"So, what is this proposal?" Shun had dragged himself out of bed, slipped on a slightly more proper set of clothes, and joined Yuto and Reiji while the latter made himself comfortable on an armchair.

"And why would it interest more than Shun, why would it interest Ruri and me?" Yuto looked at the commissioner with a confused look, intrigued with what he had to say.

Commissioner Akaba adjusted his glasses. "Oh, come now. Do you think that simply because Kurosaki here is the only one of you who doesn't hide his identity behind more common card monsters, I would not noticed the Phantom Knight of Silent Boots you used against the thieves last week or suspect Ruri's involvement when the Raptor's band increased to three? My proposition is for all of you, and rightly so."

"Get on with it already," said Shun, impatiently, "You don't need to show off."

"Hold on. I want to know how he's tracking us, the Phantom Knights of Silent Boots is nearly untraceable to any outsider, and we made Ruri hide in the shadows as much as possible. It's as if Commissioner Akaba….! How long have you been spying on us?" Yuto questioned, glaring at the Commissioner with what appears to be anger.

Reiji pulled out a card from his pocket and summoned it. "I have my ways," he said as DD Copernicus appeared in the room. "I've known about your activities ever since the Raptors began, and as much as you want to believe otherwise, you're not invisible to the press."

Out of pure reflex, Yuto summoned the Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak the second after DD Copernicus appeared.

The commissioner raised an eyebrow. "A duel, now? I'm not wearing my disk." The commission was also known to participate in duels as well, but only with the police force for certain events that met his approval. The crowds had expressed hopes of seeing Heartland's Raidraptor-using star duel the police's prodigy commissioner, but on the rare occasion that they were in the same tournament, police business had arisen and Shun had mysteriously disappeared.

"You're the one who summoned a monster first. What I'm doing is Self-Defense." Yuto said, in a rather calm tone that doesn't match his deathly glare at the commissioner.

"Fair enough." Reiji dispelled his monster and adjusted his glasses again. "Now, as for the proposition. As you know, despite my efforts, the current police system is rather corrupt, and I suspect a number of my officers are receiving bribes from criminal sources, as some groups have eluded us longer than they should have."

"As far as your police goes, I only care about the one they call 'Pawn of Fusion'. And Yuto is sure that he found that pawn. We plan to get rid of him when he goes out for his patrol." Shun nodded at Yuto as Yuto gave Reiji a profile picture that shows Yugo's face. '

The commissioner took the picture, looked at it, and promptly covered his mouth with his other hand, shaking almost imperceptibly. It took a moment for the caped crusader to realize that the composed, refined, and articulate commissioner was _trying not to burst out laughing._ "Though I'm … quite surprised… I wish you luck with that. However, I've not finished explaining my proposal."

"...Fine. It is rather rude of me to cut you off, please continue with this proposal." Shun, who at this point, was trying to contain his anger. No one laughs at his best friend without consequence..

"As I was saying, the police aren't fully trustworthy, so I intend to enlist a group of trusted individuals to a more secure subsection, and I hope to include you three." He had also hoped to include Yugo and Rin, as despite Yuto's suspicions of the former, Yugo was one of his most trusted officers. "In my employ, you will be officially funded by the department, and have access to police files and records." He also considered telling them that he had his own suspicions on the "Pawn of Fusion's" true identity, but he wasn't certain yet, and the information might just confuse them, as their suspect held a few visual similarities with his.

"You were right commissioner, this is fairly interesting at the very least….Who are the other individuals you plan to include in this group?" Shun had a small glimmer of interest, the support of the department along with any possible evidence they could use, and profiles of every person in this city would prove to be useful for their line of work.

"Detective Tenjo, who you're familiar with, an officer named Rin and her subordinate, Officer Noboru Gongenzaka, Officer Sawatari, and my younger brother, Reira." He decided not to mention Yugo by name, for fairly obvious reasons.

"We will consider this, but we should expect a meeting between your comrades soon before we make our decision."

"Of course," said Reiji, "Though don't expect it to happen anytime soon. There are a few loose ends and suspicions to be cleared before we can begin forming the group proper."

"Agreed, we still have to find our Pawn, so if you have any information regarding him, we would appreciate it, considering how you question Yuto's accusation of your officer." Shun said, hoping the Commissioner would give them a clue regarding their case.

The commissioner adjusted his glasses, creating a glare on its lenses, obscuring his eyes. "I don't have any evidence, but I doubt Yugo would be capable of being the Pawn of Fusion you're seeking. However… I haven't confirmed the legitimacy of all my subordinates. But I do recommend that you take some care when talking to Yugo."

Yuto nodded and walked off into another room, leaving Kurosaki to deal with Reiji alone.

"Is that everything?" Shun decided that if Reiji didn't have any more important things to say, he was going to shoo him off, so he could get some decent sleep.

"Yes it is. Goodnight, Kurosaki." As Shun wasn't too difficult for Reiji to read, the commissioner left. As he reached the door, he turned his head back towards the vigilante. "By the way," he said, with the corner of his mouth ever so slightly upturned, "Don't take too long with the dishes. I doubt Yuto would appreciate being pushed to take matters into his own hands if the work accumulates." And with that, he left.

Shun just grunted and vanished into his room. He flopped onto his bed a second time and drifted into sleep, only to wake up in the middle of the night with the realization that Reiji had even spied on that conversation.

…

Yugo could swear someone was watching him. He'd looked back a full ten times on the way from the station back home, and had seen nothing. But he had to make sure. A criminal or an assassin might have been following him, and not trusting his investigative instinct might have put him in danger. That would not be allowed to happen.

So he parked his motorcycle next to a tree, locked it, gave it a quick check to makes sure there wasn't anything that could be adjusted or preemptively fixed before he got to his garage, then began investigating.

Yugo pressed the com button in his helmet that connected to the walkie-talkie system. "Rin..I feel like someone's watching me...And I feel like my heart's about to burst, can we just go to another area for patrol tonight?"

There was no response, and the interface display in the helmet said that she was not currently available.

"G-Great...Agh! I don't need her anyways!" Frustrated, Yugo continued his investigation, hoping his heart would ease a little as time went on, but unfortunately for him, it was only getting worse.

Yugo thought he heard footsteps behind him and turned around. But there was no one there. Eventually, he decided that it was only his imagination… until he turned back to his motorcycle and saw a girl, covered from head to toe in a dark purple and gray outfit, examining the Duel Disk system he'd attached to his motorbikes' controls. She wore a black masquerade mask with pink trim, and white gloves on her hands.

"Oyyy! What are you doing with my Motorbike?!" Yugo yelled as he ran toward the mysterious girl, thinking that she was attempting to steal it.

The girl seemed startled at the sound of Yugo's voice and stepped back. She then put her hands on her hips and said, "I was just looking at it. Can't a girl look at a motorbike nowadays?"

Yugo recognized that voice. "T-That Voice...Why would you look at a motorbike you helped build? Rin?"

The girl froze, and Yugo couldn't tell what she looked like under the mask, but he could envision Rin's face, surprised at how easily he recognized her. "What are you talking about? Who's Rin?"

Obviously, this was a ploy to keep her identity a secret. "You? I recognize that voice, I've known you since we were kids Rin! You can wear that...Wait what are you wearing? I thought Halloween wasn't until October…."

"I'm Miami City's Melodious Masquerade. ...except in Heartland." She took another step back from the motorcycle.

Yugo only vaguely recalled the Miami hero. He wasn't too surprised that Rin would also want to be a heroine like her. ...Maybe she didn't want her identity revealed.

"...I swear, I've heard that name before...Sorry..It's just your voice, you sound just like a really close friend of mine." Yugo played along for now, his heart won't get any better if he just kept calling her out in the middle of the night.

The girl seemed pensive for a moment. "I should get back to my patrol. Crime waits for no one."

"W-Wait! Just a moment please!" The young officer went into the back of his motorbike, and grabbed a helmet and passed it to the lady. "Crime would wait a lot less if we worked together for the night right?"

She took it and looked at it. "Are you offering to help me?"

"I go on patrol too, you know. It would be a lot quicker if we worked together for the night."

She put the helmet on, the corners of the mask bending slightly to fit, "Alright, thanks."

Yugo imagined a grin on her face as she accompanied him onto the motorbike and sped off.

The patrol covered the normal police route, but the girl had them take a few detours into some places he did not consider looking into. At the end, she asked to be dropped off at a subway station.

"By the way, haven't caught your name, and Melodious Masquerade doesn't exactly roll off the tongue for me."

"Just helping me patrol tonight doesn't entitle you to knowledge of my secret identity."

"I know it doesn't….I just thought it would be nice to know each other…" The young officer pouted at the girl, as if he was a small child who didn't get what he wanted."

"Well, if Melodious Masquerade is too long, I guess you could call me…." She thought for a bit, "Mel? And I'll be patrolling tomorrow night too. We could meet up in the park again."

"I look forward to it! Oh right! The name's Yugo!" Immediately, the pout turned into a bright smile, as if his spirits were lifted up instantly.

She nodded. "See you tomorrow, Officer Yugo." She then boarded the subway and left.

As Yugo headed home, he couldn't stop thinking about that girl, how he was convinced she was Rin under the mask, how she was so much more...distant than usual, but he also looked forward to meeting her again.

A/N: Lith again! This chapter was longer. Deal with it. AN: It's me again, and yeah. We really put a lot of stuff into the second chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hokuto Shijima….Kotsu Masumi….Yaiba Todo...Three criminal duelists who have been defeated by Raidraptor Rise Falcon...They were found by me, barely conscious. I only kept them alive because they had information I needed...And I hope they are ready to repent for their crimes…" Detective Tenjo said to himself, reading the profiles he'd just updated of the criminals off of his computer, only to open three new profiles, Kurosaki Shun, Kurosaki Ruri, Yuto.

"Yuto, the Phantom Knights user, he uses his cards from the graveyard to support the monsters on the field, focusing on bringing out his Xyz Monsters, Phantom Knights of Break Sword, and his ace, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon...Appears to be a counterpart to one of our officer's ace, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon….." Kaito closed Yuto's Profile and began to examine Shun's Profile.

"Kurosaki Shun, unlike Yuto, he is more reckless and violent, he uses a Raidraptor Deck, filled with monsters that can bring out one another to Xyz Summon his Raidraptor Rise Falcon or Force Strix for Defense. Uses a unique set of Rank-Up Cards to evolve his Raidraptor Xyz Monsters, such as Revolution Falcon, Satellite Cannon Falcon, possibly even a Rank 10 Raidraptor if one exists…" Kaito closed Shun's Profile, but didn't even bother to look at Ruri's profile, knowing how it's just basic information about her, such as her age and her school. She hadn't been an active member of the Raptor's force for long, and he'd yet to see her cards, if she indeed had any. She was athletic and resourceful and that seemed to be more than enough to deal with most encounters.

Yuto and Shun had been vigilantes starting two years after Shun and Ruri's parents died. Since then, the Kurosakis had investigated their parent's killers. They fought criminals, decimated what was once the black market, and protected the city as well as they were able.

However, the recent cardings had caught both their and the police's attentions, and Kaito suspected that these criminals might have had a hand in it.

In any case, Kaito was off, he really never stayed too long in the department because was always solving important and key cases. Today isn't any different when Kaito decides to interrogate the three criminal duelists Shun helped arrest.

"Are you three ready to repent for your crimes?!" Kaito asked, glaring at all of them with intense anger and hatred to these criminals.

Masumi spat at him, her arms cuffed behind her back. "When our positions are reversed, expect no mercy from us, for they will be." The criminal gave him a defiant glare.

Todo kept his head down while he spoke, "Heartland will burn, and there is nothing you or your kind can do to stand in our way." Despite his position, his mouth was twisted in a feral smirk.

Shijima remained silent, hands straining against his cuffs.

"Masumi Kotsu...does the name Professor Marco ring any bells? If you fail to repent, if all three of you fail to repent, I will make sure that he will repent in your place...As I eradicate his sinful soul from this world." Kaito's glare remains unchanged, not even caring about the spit on his face.

Masumi held her glare. "Nothing you say can move me. You will regret your words when Venom sinks its teeth into you."

Kaito did not flinch at those words, instead, he kept a mental note of those words as he showed them live footage of Professor Marco facing Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon from the monitor behind him.

"One last chance, are you ready to repent?!"

Masumi gritted her teeth. "...Sensei would be more disappointed in a betrayal of Academia then from your actions to my silence." She resolved to not speak again.

Kaito, who closed his eyes as he utters the next sentence with even more rage than when he started.

"Then he will gladly repent his sins for me in your place! GALAXY-EYES CIPHER DRAGON! CIPHER STREAM OF ERADICATION!" The Dragon then proceeded to blast the Professor, as Kaito increased the volume of his victim's screams in agony in order to make sure that this scene is planted into their heads. All that remains is a card, sealing Marco's soul for an eternity.

As she saw her mentor being carded, she stifled a cry of agony. She would not show weakness here. She could not.

Masumi hung her head as tears began to flow down her face. She grimaced and snarled between sobs. "What...makes you think… you're any better… than we are…?" She clenched her fists and closed her eyes, defeated.

Kaito closed his eyes, and clenched his fists as he replied.

"I'm not. And I will repent for my sins after Academia repents for theirs...This is what they did, they did the same thing to my brother, they made me watch every second. And it gave me the resolve to do the same thing to your kind…..I'll have Professor Marco's card sent to your cell so you can tell him how much of a monster we've become."

Masumi was done and said no more.

"Where's your talk from before? How I would regret everything when Venom sunk its teeth into me? I thought nothing I said could move you? Or perhaps, are you imagining multiple ways of ending me?"

He got no response from any of them.

"I'll have Officer Yugo to look after you while I'm gone." Kaito walked away as his three Cipher Wings followed him.

…

Later that night, on Shun's way home, he could've sworn he had someone following him, as if he was prey for a predator to feast on.

He turned around the corner of a building, and came face-to-face with a bear. It seemed as if someone took a large stuffed toy and segmented it, putting scissors in its torso and spikes for fangs.

"What the?!-" Shun instantly reacted, getting his duel disk and summoning his Raidraptor Rise Falcon, in order to fight back.

"A Fusion Monster...But whose is it?"

He was answered with a growl from behind him. Shun spun around and found that he was being flanked by a wolf, which also looked like a stuffed toy with scissors.

"Well well, looks like my monsters found some Xyz Scum to play with~"

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Shun did not want to put up with shit today, but apparently he was going to have to.

"Who I am isn't important, what matters is that you're an xyz scum that hasn't been dealt with." The child-like voice said, playing around with his lollipop.

"Look around," said Shun, gruffly, "You're in Heartland, the capital city of Xyz users. What did you expect?"

"Where I'm from, you're extinct, the forgotten people, the weak prey that has all been hunted down. I've been sent here to complete a project of my superior's, he's quite hush-hush so he wouldn't give me all the details. But he also said to eliminate any Xyz user I see, and I see you." The child appeared, sucking on a lollipop, staring at the Raidraptor user.

"If it's a fight you want," said Shun, summoning two Vanishing Laniuses and Raidraptor Revolution Falcon to join his Rise Falcon, "Make it quick, I have dishes to do."

"Fiiiinneeeeeeeeeeeee, I activate Polymerization to fuse my Fluffal Leo and my Edge-Imp Saw! FUSION SUMMON! DEATH-TOY WHEEL SAW LEO! Leo! I activate Leo's effect! I get to destroy 1 monster you control! I destroy Rise Falcon!'

"Hmph, calling your attacks?" asked Shun. He took his defeated monster's card and laid it under Revolution Falcon's card. "So you're accustomed to tournament rules. I suppose actual battles are just as rare where you come from as Xyz users are." Shun silently commanded his Revolution Falcon to expend Rise Falcon's power. "That will be your downfall. Revolution Falcon! Attack these Fusion monsters! The talons of Justice shall be your downfall!"

"Revolution Falcon doesn't have enough attack points to touch my Fusion Monsters-" Sora pointed out.

"Check again." Shun pointed at his enemy's Duel Disk, which he wore on his arm, as Revolution Falcon flew into the sky to prepare its assault.

"Z-Zero?! Zero Attack Points each! H-How…." The child was helpless to protect his monsters, or his Life Points.

"Perhaps if you've seen my Raptors in one of the tournament battles you seem accustomed to," he said, nodding at the Duel disk, "You would be familiar with my Revolution Falcon by now." He turned and walked away, as Revolution Falcon bore down upon the Fusion user's monsters, nearly rendering the child unconscious from the expenditure of life force used to summon them. Shun dismissed his monsters, and placed their cards back into his pockets.

"...T-This...Isn't...Over…" the Fusion user said, his duel disk teleporting him away before he could be caught.

...

Later that evening at the commissioner's office, Kaito was hoping to inform Reiji of the discoveries he found.

"Commissioner Akaba." Kaito said, waiting for a response from his superior.

"Yes, Detective Tenjo? What is it?" The commissioner turned around in his swivelling office chair and looked at the detective.

"Apologies for disturbing you at this time, but I have discovered something from my interrogation of Masumi Kotsu, Shijima Hokuto, and Yaiba Todo. They have mentioned something, where I would be cowering in fear from something called Venom."

Reiji adjusted his glasses. "Venom… hm… Thank you for telling me. Please keep me informed of any developments regarding the investigation."

Kaito, however wasn't done, he showed his results of his investigation. "Upon further investigation, I have found that it is related to these two, Yuto, who owns Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, and Officer Yugo's Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, however, these two are completely unaware of this connection."

Reiji nodded. "I suspected as much. If you do find someone who resembles Yuto and Yugo, please detain him and bring him to me." This was a risk, he knew, but he also knew that a "mistake" here would also benefit him, though not as much as a success. Nothing would be lost but Kaito's pride, and he could afford to lose some of that.

Kaito nodded, saying, "Thank you for your time." and left to continue his investigation.

Commissioner Akaba reviewed the notes the detective left for him, as well as a few of his own. Yes, everything was falling into place.

…

As Shun put a number of cups away into the cup drawer, he thought about his encounter with that Fusion user. He said something about eliminating all Xyz users. He didn't recognize the cards, but he knew that if that duelist were in a tournament, or learned to adapt to a less structured battle, he could possibly be legitimately dangerous. He looked at one of the plates, which still had some residue from dinner from the night before. That would have to be washed manually. He set it aside. He knew that the child would try to find and fight him again, but really had no way of knowing when, or how he would be prepared for that.

Ruri walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Big Bro, I finished Band Practice. Need any help with that?"

Shun smiled at his younger sister and said, "No, thanks, I'm only doing them today because Yuto's doing the laundry."

Ruri laughed a little. "You do know that Yuto isn't our butler right?"

"Yes, that's why he's not doing the dishes right now. I'm doing them." Shun was quite sure this made sense.

"So why is he doing the laundry?"

"Well, he was going to wash his own clothes anyways, it's not much trouble for him to put my clothes in there too. And I was tired after saving the innocent citizens of Heartland from the criminal underworld yesterday."

"Yuto and I help you protect Heartland too, you're not the only one who's tired."

"Which is why Yuto's not doing the dishes." Shun didn't understand the problem here.

"Maybe you should let Yuto rest, when was the last time you've seen him do that?"

"I don't know? I don't keep track of Yuto's schedule, I'm usually busy. He doesn't need to do that mechanic stuff all the time." Shun, having cleared the dishwasher of clean dishes, began arranging the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

"You could at least try to care about your best friend." Ruri huffed and walked away.

Shun… really didn't get it, and was left confused.

...

At the Park, Yugo was asleep on his motorbike, waiting for the masked girl to meet him here, snoring away loudly.

He was awoken by the sound of a familiar voice asking "...What kind of idiot falls asleep on a motorbike?

Startled, Yugo screamed and fell on the grass, standing up immediately. "Oyy! Don't you know it's rude to scare people while they're sleeping?!"

"Don't _you_ know it's dangerous to sleep on motorbikes in the middle of a park?" The girl had her arms crossed, and was the spitting image of Rin, if Rin had coloured her hair purple and tied it up. She crossed her arms the same way she always did, too.

"R-Rin? Aren't you supposed to be at the department? And what did you do with your hair?! And what's wrong with sleeping on a motorbike in the middle of the park?!" The young officer had so many questions for the girl that he couldn't stop talking.

"Who's Rin? What department? I didn't do anything with my hair? What are you even talking about? And this is Heartland, you know. Not exactly a safe place to go around and sleep on motorcycles in public places. Or anywhere, really." She tilted her head, confused by Yugo's questions.

"You're Rin, the police department, and you _never_ wear your hair like that! And you're early, and not wearing the costume. You sure you don't want to go back and change?" Yugo thought the girl was Rin, and that she was the Melodious Masquerade.

"What costume?!" She seemed confused.

"You know," said, Yugo, "The Melodious Masquerade costume. We were going to meet here tonight, remember?"

Frustrated, the girl smacked Yugo right across the face. "Idiot. I'm not your girlfriend, now would you stop hitting on me?"

"...But I didn't even touch you Rin, you're the one who slapped me!"

She facepalmed. "You know what? I'm not even going to deal with you. I have better things to do." Then she walked away.

"...Does the world really not want me to understand what happened to me in the past few days?" Yugo was really confused about Rin's behaviour and decided that he'd just have to wait for her tonight.

Meanwhile, Serena was wondering who the heck sleeps on motorcycles in the park, and what in the world that guy was thinking throughout the conversation. She only intended to scope out some buildings in the area, not talk to some idiot in the park. "Melodious Masquerade?" What on earth did he mean by that?

…

 **A/N:** Lith again. I don't know how to Ruri. I don't think anyone knows how to Ruri. And before you ask, Yugo finished his shift, which is why he was asleep on his bike in the park and not working. AN: This is also a long chapter, deal with it.


	4. Chapter 4

"So Rin," said Yugo, lounging in an office chair at the precinct, "Are we going to patrol together again tonight?"

It was way too early in the morning for this nonsense. Rin looked at Yugo wearily, and sipped her cup of coffee.

She narrowed her eyes tiredly. "What are you talking about, Yugo? We haven't even been assigned a route for this week yet…"

Yugo stared at her blankly for a moment, then smiled, seeming to realize something.

"Oh, of course…! What I mean to say is, do you think the Melodious Masquerade would be patrolling again tonight?" Yugo's tone sounded as if he were trying to be sly. Trying.

This just confused Rin further.

"You look really adorable when you're confused." Yugo was grinning obnoxiously.

Rin raised an eyebrow. "...Isn't the Melodious Masquerade one of Miami's heroes…?"

"Ehhhhhhh?! T-Then that would mean….THERE'S ANOTHER GIRL WHO LOOKS LIKE YOU!"

Rin's confusion did not abate. "Did you stay up all night working on your motorcycle again…? I really have no idea what you're talking about….. It's 8 in the morning…" And Rin was tired.

Yugo huffed in frustration and opened the door. "Fine, I'll find the answers that I need myself without your help."

Rin watched him leave the room, squinting slightly and raising an eyebrow. Nothing made sense, but really, should she be surprised? It was Yugo, of course, and though he was sweet, he could be a bit… odd.

Unknown to Rin and Yugo, Dennis was listening. _So… It seems the Melodious Masquerade has come,_ he thought to himself, _Perhaps I'll pay her a visit…_

...

Shun, who was waiting for his three Raidraptor Force Strix to return from their daily patrol to return to him, twiddled his thumbs impatiently. He was not a patient person in the least. He was half-tempted to comb through the entire city himself, but he knew that would take even longer than his owls would, and he was busy helping Yuto hold up some sort of mechanical thing he insisted was important for his dragon. Shun wasn't really paying attention to the explanation, just holding what needed to be held, while Yuto went and worked on it.

Moments later, some of the Force Strix returned, showing Shun and Yuto footage of a purple haired girl in the park using Fusion Summon, as well as carding an innocent civilian..One of them were still following her, tracking her location.

"Go. I'm almost done here. If I have to, I'll get one of the Phantom Knights to keep holding the stabilizer." Yuto knew that this is exactly what Shun was waiting for.

Shun nodded as he called Rise Falcon to fly him to the girl's location. "I'll help with Dark Rebellion later I promise."

Upon reaching the site, Shun recalled his Force Strix, and the girl, upon hearing him, turned around.

She was holding a card in her hand, and it wasn't a normal card.

"I don't appreciate Fusion Scum like you carding Heartland's citizens. We are more than prey for your hunting games, girl."

"Hunting games? We of Academia are honorable duelists, fighting loyally for our dimension! If you dare mock that…" The girl activated her duel disk. "Then you should be prepared for the consequences."

"Honorable?! Your people made Kaito watch his family die...Your Academia is anything but honorable!" Shun activated his duel disk in response.

"I don't know what you're talking about, and I won't put up with any slander or lies about my home!" The girl held up three cards: two monster cards and a spell card. Polymerization, as expected. "I fuse Moonlight Crimson Fox and Moonlight Purple Butterfly to summon Moonlight Cat Dancer!"

"So you're just like that Death-Toy User, you've only played with tournament rules. If that's the case, you'll fall just as easily as he did. I summon my Three Raidraptor Vanishing Lanias and overlay them! XYZ SUMMON! RAIDRAPTOR RISE FALCON!" The Xyz Monster appeared and ascended into the sky. "I'll have to show you the crimes that Academia did to my people then."

The girl looked startled for a moment, then narrowed her eyes. "Well, if you're going to break the rules, I'll return the favour. Cat Dancer! Attack directly!" With that, the humanoid cat creature pounced upon him. She silently tributed Moonlight Blue Cat to speed the Dancers attack and have it attack again.

Shun took the attack, glaring at the monster right in the eye as Rise Falcon turned around, swooped back, and blocked the second attack as it used one overlay unit to gain Moonlight Cat Dancer's Attack Points and overpower it.

"My comrades will always have my back." Shun said bitterly, revealing a Rank-Up-Magic to the girl as he activated it. "Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force! Allow me to show you, my Falcon's evolution….." He used the card, and Rise Falcon was replaced with Revolution Falcon.

The girl drew a card, then laid it facedown. She then began to disappear in a burst of light. She looked around her, seeing her surrounding change, and panicked.

"N-no! Wait! I haven't finished this battle! I cannot retreat yet!" But then, she was gone, leaving only the person she carded behind.

"What a strange girl...Maybe Kaito can help me with finding out who she is…" Shun said to his Revolution Falcon as he picked up the carded victim.

…

Yuto looked at his phone. It seems two of Miami's stars were moving to Heartland. Yuya Sakaki and Yuzu Hiragi. They looked familiar, and Yuto was sure he hadn't just seen those faces in the news. However, he was unable to recall when he had seen the two of them.

Ruri came out of her room as soon as she learned that Yuya and Yuzu were arriving in Heartland and went to Yuto. "Yuto! Did you hear? Yuya and Yuzu are coming to Heartland! Can we go meet them please?!"

"I've just read the news, yeah. They're probably very busy, as they're quite well known here as well as Miami. Though we could try to meet them. But not right after they come. Their place is probably going to be flooded with fans." Yuto continued to scroll down the article, reading on. Apparently, the two would end up within comfortable walking distance from their own home, conveniently enough.

As soon as Ruri heard what was basically a yes in her mind, she hugged Yuto from behind.

"Thanks Yuto! I knew you wouldn't let me down! I'll pay you back later I promise!"

Yuto had experience with getting tackled by Ruri, and was not startled by the sudden glomping. "You're welcome. Is it just me, or do they seem familiar?"

Ruri noticed after seeing multiple images of Yuya and Yuzu, and stared at Yuya.

"Yuya looks a lot like you, Yuto….."

"Hm…." Yuto thought about it. It was possible. Now that he thought of it, he could have very well seen that face in a mirror. Weird. "That's uncanny."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence. Anyways, where did Shun go? I haven't seen him in a while…" Ruri asked, worried about her brother.

"Shun found a lead half an hour ago. And Yuzu looks a lot like you, now that I think about it…." He was mentally comparing Ruri's face with the other face in the photos.

"Shouldn't we help him in case he's in trouble?"

"Nah," said Yuto, "He's fine. After I finished with the stabilizer, I told Rebellion to give a shout if Shun gets in trouble."

"Alright… I'm going to cook dinner, it's pasta. I could teach you." Ruri had taken to teaching Yuto how to cook, because being the only girl in the house _and_ the only one who cooks was simply not a good place to be.

"That would be nice and relaxing, thanks." Yuto smiled as he headed into the kitchen..

…

"Thank you for notifying me. I'll be sure to keep an eye on further developments." Reiji hung up. Shun had called him to tell him that he'd found a Fusion-using girl carding people, and that she'd mentioned something called "Academia."

He decided to check up on a few of his sources. It seemed that two of Miami's aristocracy were moving, though they wouldn't call themselves that.

He adjusted his glasses. This was going to be interesting.

…

Yuya laid on the couch, propping his feet up on its armrest. He and Yuzu had officially moved to Heartland, and the press was all over them for a while.

"Hey, Yuzu," he said, leaning his head back to look at her, "I found something interesting on the list of participants for the upcoming tournament when I was doing the paperwork to enter late."

Yuzu showed little interest in the participants of the tournament, they looked strong for sure, but none of them were too interesting to her. "What is it Yuya? Do they all intimidate you or something?"

"Nah," replied Yuya, "But check this out!" Yuya took out his duel disk, which also served as his phone, computer, and news source, and pulled up two pictures. "These two look like us!" Yuto and Ruri. "I wonder if Reiji knows 'em…"

Yuzu took a closer look at them and was shocked, if weren't for a few key differences, Yuto and Ruri could easily pass off as them. "Now that I think about it….there's an officer that also has a resemblance to you…."

"Oh? Did you get in trouble, or did the Melodious Masquerade meet him?" Yuya, of course, was kidding around. Yuzu would _never_ get in trouble with the police.

"Mel of course. But the strange thing was, when we met, he thought I was someone named Rin. Maybe there's another pair of look-alikes."

"Hm… Two other pairs who look like us… Maybe we were all triplets separated at birth, like, two families of triplets or something… and then…. Sort of ended up together in Heartland?" Yuya wasn't entirely sure of what he was saying, but that was fine with him.

"I guess...Maybe we can talk to Reiji about this before the tournament starts." Yuzu said, looking at the profiles of Ruri and Yuto.

"Yeah. If anyone knows anything, it's going to be Reiji." He turned his Duel Disk back off. "Though if I remember correctly, Yuto doesn't live too far from here. I might visit him and Ruri."

"And Mel will pay a visit to that officer….I feel bad for forgetting his name. Something like Yuugou?"

Yuya tilted his head. "Why would anyone name their kid "fusion?"

Yuzu sighed and asked, "Why would anyone name their kid Yuya?"

Yuya thought about this for a moment. "...For the same reason someone would name their kid Yuzu?"

"Look we all have odd names okay?"

"That we do. But Fusion's the weirdest."

…

 **A/N:** The main purpose of this A/N is actually so I can find the end of this chapter.

Eyy/Nole (AN): The other Purpose of this A/N is to remind ourselves to make an A/N at the end of the chapter for convenience sake.

Post A/N A/N (or PNAN [positively not a number]): Disclaimer: If there are bad puns, they're probably mine. ~Lith


	5. Chapter 5

Oh? So it seems that Kotsu Masumi's group has failed me….No matter. They will receive their proper punishment in due time. But for now, I should attend to more...important matters. Isn't that right Starve Venom? We should start with Her."

The duelist held up a picture of Kurosaki Ruri, lighting it on fire. Before the flames can reach his hands, he threw it in the trash, leaving it to burn.

"Hey, did you hear about the new transfer student, Ruri Kurosaki?"

"...Ruri? She's been the leader of the gymnastics club for like two years now…?"

The first girl, a tall redhead, slapped her hands over her face in embarrassment. "Oh, crud, I messed up her name again. Her name was… R…" She fumbled a moment over the name, before pointing dramatically, suddenly remembering the name,. "Serena! Her name's Serena! She looks a whole lot like Ruri! I saw her and she was all scowly and I thought Ruri was having a bad day so I called her over and tried to cheer her up and she just looked at me like she didn't know me and brushed me off and mumbled something about 'not again' or something and I realized that something was wrong so I asked her and she introduced herself as Serena after that and she seemed a bit happier so yay!?"

The redhead's minty-haired friend took a moment to process the long, run on, sentence, then smiled calmly. "So I guess you accomplished your mission," she said cheerfully, clapping her hands together, "We should totally meet her after lunch of after school or something and hang out!"

Ruri was normally not one to eavesdrop, but upon hearing her name, she habitually turned her head to hear the conversation, and wound up paying attention to its general gist, despite having her own lunchtime conversations.

Yuto also seemed to have an interest in what the girls have said, after all, there was already one other girl that looked like Ruri.

"There's another girl that looks like you? This is really odd isn't it? We can't just call this a coincidence Ruri."

Ruri nodded. "Yeah, that's weird… I thought it was just a coincidence with me and Rin… But Serena? And Yuzu? Hm…" She placed her hand under her chin thoughtfully, curled fingers facing outward. "...It's just so unlikely, but… There's no real logical explanation, is there?"

Yuto took a bite out of his sandwich and continued. "Also, Yuya, and that Officer seem to share a resemblance to myself. We may have to discuss this with the Commissioner after school. It feels ominous to have these people who look like us."

"But what would Reiji do about it?" asked Ruri, "Is there even anything he can do to investigate this?"

"I'm sure he is aware of this, he has to be. It's as if he's anticipating for this to happen. Besides, we have to talk to him about other matters anyways."

Ruri shrugged, "I guess…. But I'm definitely going to talk to Serena by tomorrow."

Yuto nodded in response, "Just be careful all right? Who knows, she could probably be out to card us."

Ruri smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I won't get into any duels I can't win."

Yuto smiled back, however he went into his pocket and reached out for his cards, and offered Ruri his Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. "Just in case you are in a pinch, okay? Think of this as...extreme measures."

Ruri took the card. "Okay. I hope I don't need to use him."

"I do as well."

The sight in the office of Commissioner Reiji Akaba was nothing unusual. The aforementioned commissioner sat at his desk, facing three of his men, and adjusted his glasses. One of them, a certain Detective Tenjo, "placed" (unceremoniously dumped) three "confiscated" (Rudely taken) Duel Disks on to the commissioner's desk.

"We've finished the analyses of Masumi Kotsu's, Shijima Hokuto's, and Yaiba Todo's Duel disks," said the well-known detective.

He, Dennis, and Shingo had decrypted the Disks' records and protocols, Kaito noticing Detective Macfield's proficiency with electronics and enlisting him for the task.

Said orange-haired detective was leaning irreverently on the desk as he spoke. "They've definitely been carding people, but they're not the only ones. Some of the disappearances don't match up." He flourished with his hands. "Of course, they could be non-carding disappearances too, but that's not likely."

Shingo, not wanting to be left out, stood up and gestured to himself with his thumb. "And I," he said, grandly, "Found some of the missing disappearances myself!"

Reiji, while relieved that there were some people found alive and not in card form, completely ignored Officer Sawatari and instead addressed Detective Macfield and Detective Tenjo.

"This is quite the oddity if I do say so myself. If some of these disappearances are indeed not a result of carding, what do you suppose it is, Detective Macfield, Detective Tenjo?"

"Barring the runaways Sawatari found," began Kaito, "We think that most, if not all the other disappearances are cardings, but by other individuals."

Dennis chimed in. "Kaito says the prisoners didn't say anything, but I bet they're working for a bigger group."

"It's only an assumption, but as I've told you before Commissioner Akaba, they told me that 'Venom' would sink its fangs into me. Based on my clues so far, with the connections to Dark Rebellion and Clear Wing, I have come to the conclusion that they are working for someone who is trying to make another dragon."

Reiji nodded. "Thank you for the update. Is there anything else?"

Kaito only had one more question in mind. "I remember you saying to detain someone who looked similar to Officer Yugo and Yuto. You can't possibly mean that entertainer, Yuya Sakaki can you?"

Reiji raised his eyebrows. "The one in particular I am seeking to detain is a Fusion user. Though I'd like to talk to Yuya Sakaki, I doubt he is our man."

Kaito then proceeded to show some of Yuya Sakaki's cards in a list. More specifically the Fusion Monsters.

"Yuya Sakaki has some Fusion Monsters of his own, Brave-Eyes, Rune-Eyes, and Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Not to be disrespectful, but that only raised suspicion on my part."

Reiji leaned back in his chair and looked into the detective's eyes. "Then I'll leave the decision to your discretion.

Kaito didn't flinch at his superior's eyes looking into his. Unlike the other officers, he doesn't fear him.

"With your permission Commissioner, I'd like to investigate Yuya Sakaki further. If I'm to find the man you want, I do believe that this is necessary."

The commissioner nodded. "Permission granted. Please inform me of any developments. Will that be all?"

The detective nodded. "Yes, that will be it for now. Thank you for your time. Let's go Macfield, Sawatari. We have business to attend to."

After they left, Yugo knocked, and said "May I come in now?" before the commissioner could reply.

"Yes, Yugo, I've finished speaking with the others." The commissioner remained patient.

"Oh. Okay." Yugo walked in and sat down. "So what did you want to talk with me about?"

Before the commissioner began, he adjusted his glasses. He wanted to clear any small suspicions Yuto had of Yugo being the "Pawn of Fusion."

"Officer Yugo, you know that you are one of my most trusted officers, and before I begin, please note that I don't believe in the rumor that I'm about to say. Now, one of the residents of Heartland seems to have suspected you of being the Pawn of Fusion."

Yugo blinked. "What? Why?"

"Their reasons are unknown to me as well, however if I had to guess, it would be because of your name, and how you look quite similar to this resident."

Reiji gave Yugo a picture of Yuto for him to look at, in order for Yugo to compare his face, to Yuto's.

Yugo scrutinized the picture carefully, narrowing his eyes. He then looked at Reiji skeptically before asking, "Are you playing a joke on me? This is a picture of me!"

The Commissioner chuckled a bit before he made his response. "You know that I'm not the kind to joke about things Officer, yes, one could easily mistake this person for you. However, this is not a picture of you."

"But… It's my face… And I wore that wig in a play two years ago… Where did you get this picture?!" Yugo was suddenly indignant at the violation of his privacy.

"My, my, you were in a play and I wasn't invited? I'm so hurt I could deduct your pay for this. Jokes aside, if you want to know where I got this picture, it's from the Kurosaki residence. They have someone that could pass off as your clone if he wanted to."

"...Wait… Yuto has the same wig? No wait?! YUTO'S THIS PAWN OF FUSION GUY?! That's impossible! He doesn't even have any Fusion cards!" Poor Yugo was confused.

The Commissioner tried to contain his laughter. Officer Yugo was always the comedic relief that the department needed, while not being as incompetent as Sawatari.

"No, Yuto is not the Pawn of Fusion. He suspects you of being the Pawn of Fusion. However, I don't think you're the Pawn of Fusion he's looking for either. Detective Tenjo is looking into this matter as well, and because of his evidence, I don't suspect you."

Yugo stood there, in shock, then spoke, hesitantly, "...And how many of these… dopplegangers… do I have…?

"3, Yuto, the entertainer Sakaki Yuya, and the actual Pawn of Fusion."

Yugo gaped. "That's… a lot…"

Reiji adjusted his glasses before he continued. "Officer Rin also has lookalikes as well, if that makes you feel any better."

Suddenly, everything made sense to Yugo. "Oh," he said, then as if he didn't quite hear himself, "OH." He looked out the door and realized Reiji hadn't said he could leave yet. "Um. ...Is that everything?"

"I have one more question for you and you may leave. Did you encounter any of Rin's lookalikes in the last few days?" Any information on Officer Rin's lookalikes would be really helpful as well.

"I-I think so," said Yugo, quickly, "She was in a costume, and I thought she was Rin. She called herself the Melodious Masquerade. I patrolled with her after my normal route. ...I've actually been patrolling with her for a few days now…"

As he suspected, Yugo has encountered at least one of these lookalikes, and even allied with them. This was quite the development for Reiji.

"Very well, you may leave. This information will be very valuable later on. You may continue your patrol with this 'Melodious Masquerade' for now."

Yugo headed out the door, then stepped back in, said "Thanks," and left.

Lith's AN: So, Christmas has been having internet problems and no computer so updating is a bit more difficult.

Nole's AN: This AN really only helps me mark the end of the chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

Ruri checked her deck one more time. It wasn't often that she actually had the time to spare to go on patrol with her brother, but this time, her night was free.

Shun himself was waiting for Ruri, it doesn't take very long for him to get ready considering how he's used to going on patrol and usually carries his deck with him at all times as well as his mask.

"Are you ready yet Ruri?" Shun asks, sounding somewhat impatient. He was eager to get out of the house as soon as possible to help get rid of Heartland's criminals.

"Yep." She put her own mask on and tucked her hair into her hood. Her Lyrical Luscinias were prepared and Yuto's dragon was tucked into her Extra Deck, just in case. "Let's go!"

Patrol was so far, quiet. Heartland, for once, was relatively peaceful. The only things worth noting were Officer Yugo and….some other masked figure on patrol together. Shun could've easily mistook this person for Ruri if it weren't for the flamboyant outfit, as well as the fact Ruri was also with him.

"I can't believe it. Heartland is quiet and...safe. No one's robbed any banks yet and no one is being carded."

Shun grunted.

"Maybe we just aren't looking in the right places. Either way, at least we aren't alone in protecting the city." He nodded towards the two patrolling by motorbike.

Ruri took a quick glance at the two. She had to agree with Shun, it was reassuring to know that the police are also hard at work to keep this place safe.

"But if that was the case, wouldn't you have your Force Strix alert us if anything's happened yet?"

Shun checked his Duel Disk. "Yes, but it can only report what it sees and if anything had been summoned nearby. If someone was carded before Force Strix is in the area, we wouldn't know. And it's cardings we should look out for the most. I fought a Fusion user earlier last week right after she'd carded someone. They have some way of escaping. I'd have caught her if the battle continued. The police have the victim now."

Ruri, had no real way to respond to that. Carding people is an awful thing to do, and the fact that one can Card people and escape so easily was horrifying. She could only wonder who it could be.

"We should be more careful then. Especially you, Shun. Can you really say you would have caught her if the battle continued? You could've been carded instead."

"Considering that she was forced to make the escape, yes. But until we find some way to subdue her, she's a real threat to both us and the city."

"So why are they carding people anyways?" Ruri mused as she scanned another street.

"Based on what that girl said to me before, it's for a cause that she finds honourable."

Ruri frowned. "I don't see how there can be anything honourable about carding people…"

Shun nodded in agreement. "Neither can I, so maybe she's being manipulated into thinking so. And until she realizes that all she's doing is tormenting innocent people, we're going to have to stop her."

"Do you remember how she looked? I could ask people to keep their eyes out for her. At least we could tell Reiji."

At that moment, Shun saw something move a little too quickly from the corner of his vision.

"There's someone here, I could just barely see them move a second ago. Be on your guard Ruri."

"Alright, Big Bro." Ruri nodded.

Shun scanned the area, not only are his eyes looking everywhere for their pursuer, but his Raidraptor Force Strix are also scouting the area.

"Ruri, summon your monsters. They're weak, but you can summon them in large groups and help find our pursuer faster." Shun ordered, anticipating an attack any moment now.

"Got it." Ruri summoned small birds in three groups of three.

"Here." Shun pointed around the corner of the building. "Force Strix found something."

Ruri nodded and the two siblings rounded the corner, duel disks at the ready.

Ruri stopped short upon seeing what was up ahead.

"...Serena? What are you doing here?"

Serena, after hearing her name, came forward to confront the two.

"Fulfilling my mission," was the cold reply as she brought out her sword-like Duel Disk.

"H-have you been the one turning people into cards…? Why? You—"

She was interrupted by two simultaneous summons. Before she knew it, Ruri saw an anthropomorphic cat monster leaping at her face.

"Ruri! Look out!" The cat was intercepted by her brother's Rise Falcon, giving her enough time to summon Assembly Nightingale using her previously summoned birds as material.

"Tch. That Falcon is getting on my nerves," Serena said, ignoring Ruri's questions as she summoned a more panther like monster, which went after Rise Falcon.

Shun pulled out a Spell Card and used it on Rise Falcon, which transformed into Revolution falcon just before the panther collided with it.

While Serena was distracted with this, Ruri slid a couple more monster cards beneath Assembly Nightingale's card on her duel disk and directed the Xyz monster behind her opponent.

"Stop now and talk! You can't fight both of us off!"

To help prove Ruri's point, Shun's Force Strixes returned in time to surround the area.

"Can't I?" Was the response Serena gave, smirking as a third Fusion Monster, a lion themed warrior appears from behind, instantly destroying every monster except Assembly Nightingale.

"No. You can't." Shun summoned three Vanishing Laniuses and handed Ruri the cards of some of the monsters that were destroyed, which she hastily shoved under her Nightingale's card.

"I'm not impressed." Serena said, as the warrior attacked Nightingale, destroying everything except itself and Nightingale.

Ruri glared at Serena. "I don't think you understand what you're up against." *She slid the three Vanishing Laniuses under Nightingale as well.

"Assembly Nightingale." On that command, the called winged girl monster attacked Serena, nineteen cards attached to its main card.

Taking the attack, Serena realizes that she underestimated them, just being barely able to stand afterwards.

"Serena… Why are you doing this? Why are you carding innocent people?" Ruri went up to her, leaving her arm at her side, Duel Disk still active.

"Does it matter why she's doing this?" asked Shun. "We caught her, and we should turn her in before she attacks anyone else."

"She's one of my classmates. She goes to the same school as me and Yuto. She said something about a mission. There could be others. She's not the only one behind this." While speaking, Ruri didn't take her eyes off Serena.

Before she could answer, a small, petite shadowy figure appears, grabbing Serena, distracting all of them with Death-Toy monsters.

"I'm sorry, but she'll have to answer that later." the small figure said before running off with Serena.

"Get back here…" *Shun growled, fighting off the new Fusion monsters.

Ruri was sliding Xyz materials out from her Nightingale, quickly handing her brother's birds back to him.

"There's no point in fighting them, we'll be gone by the time you're finished playing with them," was the cutesy response as the figure's Duel Disk glowed, causing both Serena and her rescuer to vanish.

It took a minute for the pair of siblings to fight off the macabre toy monsters, and when they finished, neither Serena nor her rescuer were in sight.

"They got away….We should have expected a second person to save her." Shun said, upset that they failed to capture Serena.

"Fusions monsters…" Ruri mused, thinking about their card types. "We're going to have to watch for that…"

"I'll report this to the commissioner. You take Rise Falcon and go home," Shun ordered. There was no way he'd let Ruri just walk home with the way things are.

"Alright. Stay safe." She left with Rise Falcon and returned to the Raptors' base of operations.

Shun left to report the fight.

Completely unaware of the events that occurred tonight, Yuya and Yuzu were preparing their cards for the upcoming tournament, discussing one of the participants in particular.

"I don't trust this Sora kid, he looks like one of those guys who'd kill with a smile on their face...Especially when you've seen what kind of cards he uses," Yuya says, handing Yuzu his tablet, showing Sora's profile.

Yuzu took a look at the tablet. "Are you sure? He doesn't seem that bad."

"I think that's what he's going for, he wants you to think he's harmless before he scares the hell out of us. You should be cautious around him Yuzu."

"Okay, Yuya, but you shouldn't make these assumptions before you even meet people." Yuzu took the chance to scroll through the rest of the list of participants. "And all our doppelgangers are in the tournament... Wonder if either of us are going to duel them…"

"You're more likely to duel your doppelgängers than I am, because there doesn't seem to be a third doppelgänger for me listed here…" Yuya said, pointing at the three girls who look like Yuzu.

Yuzu scrolled through again. "Huh, you're right… Serena, Officer Rin, and Ruri... and you've only got… Officer Yugo and Yuto. Hm… Isn't that weird? I mean, even weirder than it already was?"

Before Yuya was able to answer, the sounds of sirens could be heard outside, with someone knocking on their door.

"Did you invite anyone over?" Yuya glanced at Yuzu.

"Nope," she replied, "I wonder who it is..."

Yuya went and opened the door. He was most definitely not expecting the man on the other side.

"You're Sakaki Yuya correct? I'm Detective Tenjo, and I have a warrant to search you, and your home," Kaito says coldly, showing Yuya his badge and warrant.

"W-what?!" Yuya was, understandably, confused, concerned, and flustered. "Why are you searching us?" The confusion was audible.

"Why? I suppose I should tell you, I'm investigating you because I don't suspect Officer Yugo or his other look-a-like of manipulating lowly criminals for their own twisted project," Kaito replied, barging in the house unwelcomed, accompanied by two Cipher Wings.

Yuya could do nothing but stare rather rudely at the significantly ruder detective. Yuzu watched him carefully.

"If you're truly innocent, you should relax. If I find nothing, I'll take full responsibility for this mistake. Just stay out of the way and co-operate." Kaito warned, finding Yuya's deck, only to take it and search for what he needed.

Yuya still seemed a little distressed. The angry-looking detective was a bit scary.

"W-while you're here, do you want tea or something?" He was trying his best to be a good host but there was something unsettling about Kaito. Maybe it was his hair.

"He uses Pendulum monsters. I use Fusion cards." Yuzu decided that she might as well tell him. At the very least, it wasn't as awkward as Yuya was being. But not for a moment did she take her eyes off him.

"Does that mean you're confessing to attacking the brother and sister of the Kurosaki Residence?" Kaito asks, pausing to glare at her.

"Huh?" Yuzu tilted her head. "I don't understand what you mean. I just thought you'd want to know what sorts of cards we used. Mine are all singing-themed, and he uses performers." She smiled sweetly at the detective.

"...I apologize then. There has been a report from the department that someone attacked Kurosaki Shun, and Kurosaki Ruri. Not only did they use Fusion Monsters, but the report also said that the attacker looked like Ruri."

Upon seeing that Yuzu had the situation handled, Yuya relaxed and went to get himself a cup of juice from the refrigerator.

"That sounds terrible… Do you know anything else about the attacker? It can't be safe out if someone's going around attacking people with fusion monsters…" Yuzu lifted a hand to her mouth, eyes wide and brow slightly furrowed in concern.

"Her Monsters were different from yours, the description was Beast-Warrior Type Monsters, Cat-Like Warriors. And that she's associated with another Fusion User. There's nothing else about her currently." Kaito said, pulling out Yuya's Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, and Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon.

Yuya sipped his orange juice and looked over. "Oh yeah! Odd Eyes was my first monster friend!" He seemed to have entirely forgotten about being afraid of the scary detective upon seeing his most beloved card. "He's been with me since the beginning, and even got two variants after Yuzu lent me one of her Poly cards! It's not a proper performance without him." He was beaming.

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but this is why I find you to be a suspect. You're aware that you have look-a-likes yourself, correct?" Kaito asks, trying to be as soft as possible, for some reason, he didn't feel like disrupting the child like smile on Yuya's face.

"Like that Yuto guy and Officer Yugo? Yeah, what about it?" Yuya took another sip of his juice, leaning casually against a counter.

"They too have Dragons, similar to yours. However, I've reasoned that the culprit is a fusion user, someone with a Fusion Type Dragon." Kaito told them, with one of his Cipher Wings projecting information on Yuto and Officer Yugo.

Yuya was confused. "I thought you said the culprit was a girl with Beast-Warrior Fusion monsters?"

"No, this is for a different case, and it's why I'm here. However, it appears my Cipher Monsters haven't found anything worthwhile." Kaito said, regrettably. As cold as he can be, he dislikes the idea of accusing innocent people.

"Ohhhh…" Yuya sounded like he finally understood every secret in the universe. "So that's why you're searching my house...Okay." He looked like he just solved a mystery that's been plaguing him for months with no leads.

"I apologize for this investigation, I'll report to the department now," Kaito said, leaving the building.

"Okay! Good luck!" Yuya waved at him as he closed the door.

"...Phew… So that wasn't about the Melodious Masquerade. What a relief." Yuya leaned against the wall next to where Yuzu was sitting.

"Why would it be? She's been going on patrol with Officer Yugo, and we both know I don't break the law."

Yuya shrugged. "I was just worried. I thought he was going to search the whole place, find your stuff, and then take you away! I heard that not even the police around here are safe and I got scared."

"If you haven't already noticed Yuya, the Detective didn't search the place at all, his monsters did the work for him as we talked to him. Besides, I don't really care if he knows I'm the Melodious Masquerade. Yugo trusts him, and that's enough for me. What we do need to be concerned about is who attacked the Kurosakis... "

"We'll have to ask the Commissioner sometime, it's not like we have the right to investigate it right?"

Yuzu nodded. "Of course. But nobody will be upset if we stay prepared. Ruri might look enough like me to fool the culprit. Don't want to be off guard. Although…." She tapped a finger on her chin.

"That's ridiculous Yuzu, it's not like Ruri is a costumed crime fighter like you are, and the Commissioner promised that we would be protected and unharmed while we're here." Yuya said, dismissing the possibility.

"That's true, but he can't know everything. And when I'm in the outfit, it's kind of hard to tell the difference between me and my lookalikes. Yugo mistook me for Officer Rin. And the attacker also looks like us…" Yuzu looked through the pictures of her lookalikes on the tournament listing again. "We know it's not me or Ruri, since I'm here and Ruri got attacked… Which leaves Rin and the Serena girl. And I don't think it's Rin." She knew about corrupt officers, but if Yugo's very, very high praise of her was anything to go by, she was trustworthy.

"So you're saying it's the Serena girl that attacked the Kurosakis?" Yuya asked, taking back his tablet and tapping at Serena's profile. "Her cards are Fusion Related…"

"It's either that, or I have even more lookalikes in Heartland… This is crazy…."

"Oh well, there's no use overthinking it Yuzu, we should just go to bed and test out our decks in the morning." Yuya said, turning off the tablet with a yawn.

"Okay. Goodnight, Yuya." She went to brush her teeth and go to bed.

"Goodnight, Yuzu." Yuya went and put his tablet away.

A/N Ooh look another chapter in like forever.

A/N: It's hard motivating myself (and even harder to motivate Lith) I mean, have you guys seen Vrains? And Boku No Hero Academia? It's hard to think about writing okay.


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